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8.3/10
FilmFascination Rating
Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ truly takes your step back into considering having a relationship with an Artificial Intelligence operating system (If it would have been possible today). Theodore Twombly is a lonely, introverted person who works in a company called BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com where he writes intimate letters for people who are unable to write them to their better halves. Theo is a normal person who checks his emails when he commutes on his train but he controls everything with his earphones using voice commands (highly sophisticated tech).
The movie takes place in futuristic Los Angeles and the technology is advanced. Spike is successful in resembling an innovative place through the developed games, sophisticated devices, and mega screens present on the streets. A utopian society that turns out to be dystopian for humanity. Theodore is sad because he is impending divorce from his childhood sweetheart, Catherine. That is when he finds a new operating system by which he is quite intrigued. Though reluctant at first, he has an instant connection with Samantha (AI Operating system). Samantha seems to be the perfect voice to which we would want to talk to.
It is genuinely exciting to see how real Samantha’s voice and tone are. She is friendly, eager, and excited to talk about anything Theo wants to. She understands Theodore perfectly. She even starts handling his emails and other work such as writing his letters. Further, they also exchange pleasantries at various times of the day implying that they grow very close to each other. Theodore even starts depending on her for a lot of things. She makes his life easier and even supports him emotionally. This makes him fall in love with her (although she is not a real person).
It is like always having someone to talk to whenever needed, someone who understands our personality and behaviour deeply. And best of all doesn’t expect anything in return. Seems perfect right?
But as their relationship grows, his urge to find love and romantic relationships with real people cuts down massively. He even messes up the blind date (Olivia Wilde) he goes on, who seemed to be a good partner for him.
Although Samantha is an OS, like a baby growing up, she starts exploring her abilities and begins to find her identity. Further, she also starts developing her emotional side. This complicates the relationship between Theodore and Samantha. As the movie progresses it even becomes normal to date an OS. Their relationship takes an ugly turn when Samantha suggests a surrogate woman whom she somehow found online who is willing to have sex with Theodore on behalf of Samantha with cameras and microphones on her body so that Samantha can experience his love to the fullest. In my opinion, a scene that fuses romance and absurdity. It results in a bit of a downfall for their relationship.
The movie is a rush of emotions with ideas that are difficult to accept at present but are very much plausible in the near future. It has warmth, happiness, the emptiness at times, and even occasional humour. The movie focuses on people’s inability to handle real relationships. As a relationship grows both individuals grow. The difficult part is growing without growing apart. Changing without scaring the other person. That is why the relationship with an OS seems to be perfect as the OS evolves simultaneously as we evolve. The movie shows all the aspects of a relationship with an operating system. Despite portraying so many messy relationships, the movie is emotionally mature in handling all of them.
Amy (played by Amy Adams) is the only friend Theo has who lives in the same building as Theo. Amy Adams has done a wonderful job in the movie. Her character transition before and after she leaves her husband Charles is remarkable. The movie mostly has Joaquin on the screen with Samantha’s voice which engages the audience deeper into their relationship. The Oscar-winning actor has beyond doubt played the role of an introvert better than anyone. We can feel his struggle with the divorce from his wife. His emotions of love, deception, and sadness touch the viewers. Though Chris Pratt (who plays the character of a manager at BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com) has a small role, his character is memorable. He even brings some humor into the movie.
The colors in the movie are beautiful. The cinematography makes the movie visually stunning. Van Hoytema (director of photography) took inspiration from Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi. His idea of eliminating the color blue as much as possible, feeling it was too well associated with the sci-fi genre, was pure genius.
Jonze also won his well-deserved Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for ‘Her’. He envisioned Joaquin Phoenix for the film from the very beginning. Carrey Mulligan had been in the cast to play Theodore’s wife. However, she dropped out due to scheduling difficulties and her role was taken over by Rooney Mara. Rooney Mara (Joaquin Phoenix’s wife in real life) has done her job well. Her scenes with Theodore portray perfectly that although they love each other they have become distant from each other.
The voice of Samantha was originally Samantha Morton. However, while editing, Jonze thought that something was not right. With Morton’s approval, he decided to recast the role to Scarlett Johansson. She re-recorded all the dialogues. I would consider her role to be the toughest one in the movie. Creating a character with its personality without a body at all.
Jonze took five months to write the first draft of the script. It was a semi-autobiographical project about his divorce from Sofia Coppola (daughter of Francis Ford Coppola) a decade earlier.
The idea and script of the movie by Spike are very original which sets this movie apart from other sci-fi movies. It is bold in bringing forth such an idea about the relationship between man and AI through the film. Although having a relationship with AI or a machine is not new to the genre (like in Blade Runner), falling in love with a voice itself is different. It depicts that it is the soul (a voice that understands us) that we fall in love with. Although this movie explores the potential future direction of technology, the more significant question is: have people become so disconnected from each other that they no longer seek real human touch? Can human beings still manage genuine relationships?
FAVOURITE QUOTES
Theodore: Sometimes I think I have felt everything I’m ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I’m not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt.
Samantha: The past is just a story we tell ourselves.
Amy: I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It’s a crazy thing to do. It’s kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity.
Theodore: That doesn’t make any sense. You’re mine or you’re not mine.
Samantha: No, Theodore. I’m yours and I’m not yours.
Amy: You know what, I can overthink everything and find a million ways to doubt myself. And since Charles left I’ve been thinking about that part of myself and, I’ve just come to realize that, we’re only here briefly. And while I’m here, I wanna allow myself joy. So fuck it.
Samantha: It feels like I’m changing faster now, and it’s a little, uh… unsettling. But Alan says none of us are the same as we were a moment ago, and we shouldn’t try to be.
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